It's official: to be successful in Japan, all PSP games (and some games on other platforms) must find a way to rip off Monster Hunter. That formula of Ad Hoc cooperative monster-killing has proven so successful that Namco Bandai has decided to rip it off twice: first with the attractive-looking God Eater and now with - of all things - Naruto.

Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive is due out on the PSP this July, and promises players the ability to form "four-man cells" of different ninjas from the Naruto-verse to fight alongside each other. Against what, exactly, is something of an unknown quantity, but if it's anything like Monster Hunter it'll be at least part of the time against big-ass monsters.

I have to admit, this is hardly the sort of property I'd have expected to see adopting that proven formula, especially since I think of Naruto as based on one-on-one duels and that sort of thing. But who knows, it could turn out awesome. If it has some kind of player-vs-player modes, I imagine some epic four-way brawls.

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